o canada

getting ready for an evening with friends, food, and wine listening to joel plaskett on pandora.

i have this lady to thank for the introduction (way back in september).

haven't stopped listening, and it's the perfect soundtrack to a sunny afternoon.

*if you listen to pandora (or any other streaming type radio) i highly recommend getting a joel plaskett station.

**i also recommend you buy at least one of his albums : )

and one more. just because.

continuation of things i love.

and things i want to make.

my creative mind is in overdrive. all i want to do is make make make. all i need is time time time.

i do this thing where i squirrel away all these creative inspirations i find on the internet, books, magazines. before i can touch most of them i discover even more wondrous things to imagine making. then on occasion i go threw these reserves and edit them a bit. i try to be realistic about what i am capable of doing, experience-financially-and time-wise. and there are things that just never budge from this crafty wish list.

i have an insane desire to sew lately. it's almost all i want to do, though i do have a few knitting projects on the needles or about to be. but for some reason it has hit me that my sewing skills are getting better and it's time to tackle some new projects, lest the skills start to recede. so, the other day i went through my fabric and yarn stash which is relatively small and decided on the next few projects i plan on taking up.

and here is my list in no specific order:

several of these, because i fell in love with them the instant i saw them. i want a row of these hanging in bea's room and a couple for henry. and possible one to hang downstairs to gather up the bits and pieces from the day that will eventually need to be placed back upstairs.

the super quick + easy baby quilt seen in this post. i've got some vintage sheets and linen just calling to me for this project.

a long awaited scarf for henry. i've saved up some of his 'baby' clothes, ironed and cut the pieces and now i just need to layout the patchwork and sew that puppy up! he's been asking for a scarf and it's not quite what he asked for. i'm going to make it oversized so it will (hopefully) fit for years and years. this is what he has specifically asked for after seeing this one. but with a beard.

***note to self: put this on the list now!***

and i did add to my collection of fat quarters some pretty plaids. i really want a quilt. something simple that will get used and abused loved like crazy. something for sitting in the yard, for outdoor concerts in the park, for taking to the beach, for indoor picnics. i was inspired by this lovely one and have the layout done up just so.

so these are things i can't wait to begin working on. maybe by the end of spring i'll have one or two done : )

in the meantime i have the cutest little shrug on the needles (two sets of needles to be exact). i was about finished with the first cuff when i decided i didn't like how my cast on edge looked. so i cast on again, but kept the first one on the needles in case the second start didn't look any better. it did. so, here i go again!

this is the yarn i'm using.

and that is my crafting wish list. how about you? what's in your queue?

heart melted.

tonight i put bea down for bed. as i was leaving her room i said, "i love you.", as i normally do .

and oh my goodness, tonight she replied, "love you."!

i just wanted to run right back in and scoop her up.

a cap for me.

so, now that some of those ducks are lining up (or the laundry pile is temporarily diminishing, a few emails have been replied to), i can steal a few moments to share a finished object. yes! of the knitting variety (sometimes i think i need to remove the word knits from my blog title).

way way back in october i started this little ditty. come november amidst all the stockings i had knit, i finished it. come february, i finally photographed it! lets just say i knew it would snow and was awaiting the right conditions.

she was a quick and easy knit done up in berroco vintage sloe berry. i was grateful because i thought maybe i was losing my mind trying to knit something up for myself with the holidays approaching. turns out this was the perfect thing. i mean i was in need of a hat. and respite from the stockings i had going (not that the stockings themselves were bad, but the repetition could get to me).

i'm not really a hat person, but i have sensitive little ears. when they get cold they burn! so this was the perfect year to have a decent head cover since it has been so much colder and windier than normal. like i said, possibly i just knew the right conditions were coming. or maybe it was just the years of wishful thinking!

***my cute little niece, amaya, was the most willing model. and she was just perfect!***

once again.

my head is a mess. i just spent a good 40 minutes typing up a post and just deleted it.

i've got things to share but i am utterly distracted. i'm behind on replying to emails, uploading photos, sending out some thank you's, getting these blog posts out of my head, and laundry.

hmmmm. maybe if i wasn't spending 40 minutes typing up a post just to delete it . . .

***totally irrelevant picture***

anyway, i do have lots of found crafty inspiration, finished projects, and snowy goodness to share. but it might be best to wait until later in the week. i've got some ducks to straighten up.

pure happiness.

Washington, DC Snow Storm from Es Video! on Vimeo.

sharing this via burbs and the bees.

it made me smile and i had to pass it along.

i just want to watch it over and over.

favorite friday

these two. together. witnessing the bonding, loving, and sharing.

can't get enough of it.

and bingo was his name-o.

henry has been showing a pretty strong interest in letters, sounds, and spelling. he knows some letters by sight or sound and can recognize his name when he sees it. trying to come up with fun ways to keep him interested and learning but without pushing it. i understand this interest may wax and wane. or not. i'll follow his lead.

found an alphabet bingo game. he gets excited when he gets a letter he does recognize and doesn't need help with it. he was calling out, "i'm almost going to winned!" with a huge smile and a pump of the arms. so, of course he won. the bonus is we get to bust into the piggy bank to get our 'markers'.

we've also been writing words on the chalkboard. he'll ask us what a certain word looks like so we write it out for him. then we ask if he can write it. sometimes he wants to sometimes he doesn't. he's been able to write 'H' for a while (his favorite letter) and 'E' and recently 'N' which he interestingly writes from right to left. but it looks great so i don't say anything. he's been working on his 'R' and 'Y'. the other night he asked me what his name sounded like (meaning how is it spelled) so i spelled it for him. then he wanted me to air write the letters as he tried writing each one. then he wanted to know how to spell 'headache'! i told him - then wrote it out on a piece of paper for him. i asked him if he had a headache, he said, "no, my head just hurts."!

the next word he asked for was 'cheetah' (we had watched this movie earlier that day). it's like a little window into what he's thinking about, these words he wants to try to write.

after winning two rounds of bingo he wanted to be the one to call out the letters. kind of tricky to be the caller when you don't know your letters. even trickier is being the player who gets asked, "line down, line up, line down. do you have that letter?".

he likes to play on starfall quite a bit, but if any of you have good resources/ideas/games for learning to read/write/letters/sounds we'd love for you to share them with us!

i think the journey is about to begin . . .

reason #214

why we love youtube.

(vintage sesame street is just plain awesome).

back on the bench.

went to story time at the local bookstore today.
went to the lys to wind a couple skeins i already had.
saw bea's newly painted lavender room in the sunlight (it looks good!).
and got a bench monday shot for the first time in a long while.

productive enough day for me : )

favorite friday

this week started oh so slow, but now that it is friday seems to have gone by in a flash.
i'm ready for the weekend and in turn will be ready to start a new week.

some of my favorites this week.

~ feathers found in the house (from comforters, pillows, cushions) given to me as magical finds



~ dancing after dinner with matt & the little ones

~ bea's ever expanding vocabulary, including the word awesome - it sounds so cute

~ lying in bed with henry watching whale rider thursday afternoon

~ his drawing of paikea riding a whale



~ dinner with friends

~ spending the evenings with matt zipping through season 2 of heroes


have a great weekend!

play/repeat

discovered this via hula seventy last night and could not pass up sharing it.
we've been listening to it repeatedly. loud.
i clicked on it right before putting henry to bed, and we were all drawn to it instantly. matt and i thought the same thing almost immediately. there should be more (positive) music like this. also, how often do you hear jane austen's name dropped in a hip hop song?

beautiful modern poetry + beautiful light filled video = hitting the repeat button.

i like nyc

holly's recent trip to nyc for this cool project had me reminiscing about my one trip there way back in '03. it was in january and it was cold. i was there for work but my boss' wife and i hurried through our trip through the buyer's market so we could have more time for playing. we stayed on 42nd street, i forget the hotel. it was across from a sanrio store and next door to madame tussaud's. i remember a lot of walking and looking up. and of course having a camera (film!) attached to my face. i can still recall the amazing pastrami on rye i had at a deli i can't remember the name of. same goes for the greek dinner that was enjoyed at a cramped restaurant that was probably called nick's, but i'm not sure about that one either. freezing as we walked the two miles from our hotel to central park, exploring the park, and walking back again. i think all we did on that trip was walk and eat (after we did our work). what amazed me was how at home i felt. i can't wait till the next time i go. and it will happen. i have some museums to get to : )

these are two of my favorite fun shots from that trip.



thanks holly, for sharing your trip with us and bringing back some great memories for me!